Duelist Chronicles
by Zane the Artist
Summary: After Yugi Moto retired as the King of Games, Kaiba Corp. holds a tournament to determine his successor. Does professional duelist, Tai Kapsal, have what it takes to be the new king? Read and find out! No pairings, just card games.  none on motorcycles
1. Welcome to Domino City

Yu-gi-oh world- Duelist Park, Kaibaland, Domino High, New Steel Town- Tai Kapsal, Nathan Ferns, Wendy Ferns, Despre Von Resna, Hagard McGruns, "Killer B" B. Mantle, Loke Warsaw, Claire Ramcine, "V", Gin Lupin, Justy Elric- new cards and new story

Chapter 1: "Welcome to Domino City"

It was a bright and sunny day over Domino City. Three years have past since Atem returned to the Afterlife and Yugi and Tea were married. After Yugi won Battle City, construction of Duelist Park, a park near Kaibaland where duelists could challenge each other and trade cards freely, began and was finished a week ago. Today, a huge crowd of people was in Duelist Park, surrounding two duelist in the middle of a duel.

One of the two was a young boy, no older than 12, in a red hat, white shirt, and blue jeans named Nathan Ferns (LP: 1250) and on his side of the field was a knight in green armor (Emerald Knight-Warrior-L4-Earth-ATK: 1100, DEF: 900) and one face down card. Nathan looked worried as he saw how Emerald Knight's armor was starting to melt and turn purple.

The other duelist was a lanky boy named Terry Swalter, of about 16 years old, with an orange mohawk, a black muscle shirt, loose, ripped jeans, and a sneer on his face as he looked at Nathan. On his side of the field was a giant, purple frog with orange markings (Toxic Toad-Aqua-L3-Water-ATK: 1200, DEF: 600), a giant, green spider with red markings similar to the toad's (Toxic Spider-Insect-L4-Dark-ATK: 800, DEF: 1500), a face up trap card with a picture of man melting and turning purple like Emerald Knight (Poisonous Curse-Continuous Trap card), and two face down cards.

"That's what you get for attacking Toxic Toad," Terry gloated, "Whenever a "Toxic" monster is attacked while Poisonous Curse is the field, the attacking monster loses 500 ATK and DEF. Now I activate one of my face down cards," and one of the two cards flipped up to show spell card with a picture of an animal sinking in quicksand (Quicksand Trap Hole- Quick-play Spell Card), "Quicksand Trap Hole! At the end of your turn, this card destroys one monster on your side of field with 1200 or less Attack points," and a puddle of quicksand appeared under Emerald Knight's feet as it started to drag him down.

Nathan sadly said, "End turn," and, soon after, Emerald Knight completely sank into the quicksand as both disappeared in a burst of pixels. Terry drew his card and grinned when he saw it.

"Time to end this," he sneered, "I sacrifice Venom Spider to summon Venom Snake in attack mode!" Toxic Spider burst into pixels as a giant, blue snake with similar yellow markings replaced the spider (Toxic Snake-Reptile-L5-Earth-ATK: 2000, DEF: 1300). "Toxic Snake's special ability now activates. By sending one "Venom" monster in my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy one face down Spell or Trap card on the field," Terry gloated as he placed one card in the Graveyard. Venom Snake then shot poison at the face down card on Nathan's side of the field, melting the card instantly. "Now Toxic Toad, attack him directly!" Toxic Toad's purple tongue shot out of his mouth and jabbed poor Nathan in the gut, making him double over in pain (LP: 50). "Now Toxic Snake, finish him off with Toxic Sludge Shot!" and Toxic Snake shot a ball of purple acid at Nathan, scattering around him just before hitting, as if he was protected by an invisible dome (LP: 0).

The crowd cheered for Terry as he walked over to Nathan, taking his Emerald Knight card. "Now the card's with a real duelist," he said before walking away laughing, leaving Nathan to mourn over the loss of his best card.

Meanwhile, at the local Domino City Train station, a group of Duelists, whose ages varied, exited a train that just arrived from New Steel Town and activated their Duel Disks. Some formed small groups with other players, while others stood alone. They were all here for the same purpose; the Kaibaland National Duel Monsters Tournament.

Before the train started to leave, one boy yelled, "Wait! Wait! Let me off this thing!" and leaped out the doors as they were about to close. He was about 17,but was a bit short for his age. He had orangish-red hair and wore a blue Japanese-high school uniform and a Duel Disk. He quickly checked his belongings to make sure nothing was missing and let out a sigh of relief afterwords. _So this is Domino City,_ he thought as he looked outside, _I should get some practice at Duelist Park before the tourney prelims tomorrow._ He picked up his luggage and left the station, unaware that a few duelists followed after him.

An hour later, he found Duelist Park and readied his deck for challengers. But while he was going through his deck, he bumped into someone and fell to the ground. One of his cards flew out of his hands only to be snatched by the person he bumped into; Terry Swalter.

"Ah, thank you for catching my card," the boy said as he reached out to retrieve his card, only for Terry to smirk and pull the card away.

"This is a pretty rare card," Terry said, examining the stolen card, "If you can't hold onto it, maybe someone more careful should hold onto this card," and he walked away laughing. The boy was stunned as he saw one of his favorite cards be stolen like that, then turned when he heard a small voice say, "That was Terry Swalter, a no-good thief." The voice came from Nathan Ferns, who lost to Terry an hour ago.

"He challenged me to a duel, and when he won, he stole my best card, Emerald Knight."

"Wow! Emerald Knight is a pretty good card. And he just stole it? That's not fair or right!" He stood up and walked in the direction Terry did.

"What are you gonna do?" Nathan asked.

"I'm gonna duel him and win our cards back," was his reply.

"What? Your gonna duel him? But he's one of the best duelists in the park. Plus, he uses the cards he steals in his duels, so his deck is filled with rare cards," Nathan stated, remembering how he lost to that deck.

"Don't worry," the boy said calmly, holding up if deck, "I have a few good cards of my own," and he raced off towards Terry.


	2. The Poison Duelist

Chapter 2: " The Toxic Duelist"

"Toxic Snake! Finish off Electricity Dog with Toxic Sludge Shot!" and the blue snake shot a ball of purple acid at the yellow doberman made of electricity (Electricity Dog-Thunder-L4-Light-ATK: 1500, DEF: 1200), melting the sparking dog.

"Nooo! Poor Sparky!" cried the little girl who dueled Terry, and her life points dropped to zero after his attack.

"Don't worry, kid," Terry said, "I won't take one your cards, since you don't have any good ones," and he laughed as the girl took her deck and ran off crying.

"So, looks like you're such a lousy duelist, you have to pick on little kids."

Terry turned around to see the boy with the orangish-red hair with his deck in his hands.

"Well, if it isn't the kid with the rare card," Terry sneered, "Have you come to hand over the rest of your deck?"

" I'm here to challenge you to a duel, Terry Swalter!" he replied placing his deck inside his Duel Disk. At this, Terry just laughed (again).

"What makes you, some stupid kid who can't hold onto one card, think you can beat me?" Terry said, laughing louder, "Fine I'll duel you. Let's sta-"

"Hold it!" the boy said, stopping Terry, "We're going to use the ante system. And instead of one card, we both bet two, so I can win Nathan's Emerald Knight and my card back!" This statement made Terry sneer. Nathan heard this and pushed through the growing crowd to watch.

"Alright," Terry said, "That way you can't complain when I take your cards. Now, Let's start!"

-Red hair LP: 4000-Terry LP: 4000-

"I'm first," Terry said, drawing a card from his deck, "I activate Pot of Greed!" A card hologram of the card showed a picture of a greed jar with a wicked sneer, just like Terry's (Pot of Greed-Spell Card). "With it's effect, I draw two more cards," Terry said as he drew two cards from his deck. "Now I activate the Spell card, Poison Dart Shot, which sends one random card from your hand to the Graveyard," and a holographic dart flew out of nowhere and struck the boy's card on the far left. He discarded it and Terry continued. "Now, I summon Poisonous Flytrap," and a purple Venus Flytrap appeared on Terry' side of the field (Poisonous Flytrap-Plant-L3-Earth-ATK: 600, DEF: 500).

The boy drew his card and placed one card face down. "I special summon Highspeed Dragonfly," and a giant, green dragonfly wearing a red flight helmet and goggles appeared (Highspeed Dragonfly-Insect-L2-Wind-ATK: 800, DEF: 700). "Highspeed Dragonfly's special ability allows me to special summon him from my hand when their are no monsters on my side of the field. So I also summon Golden Lion Statue in defense mode," and a gold statue of a lion appeared (Golden Lion Statue-Rock-L3-Earth-ATK: 0, DEF: 1800), "And I finish with two cards face down. Your turn, Terry."

-Red hair LP: 4000-Terry LP: 4000-

"Hmpf," Terry huffed as he drew his card, "I summon Toxic Spider in attack mode," the same green spider as before materialized (Toxic Spider-Insect-L4-Dark-ATK: 800, DEF: 1500), "I activate Toxic Spider's effect. When he's summoned, I can discard one card from my hand to destroy one monster on my opponent's side of the field with less attack points!" He placed one card in his Graveyard and Venom Spider's eyes glowed, "Now, destroy Golden Lion Statue!" and Toxic Spider leaped onto the gold statue. Its fangs bit the statue, causing it to turn purple and melt away.

"Now I activate the spell card Poison Swap," Terry announced as a card depicting a man switching a green vile in his hand for a purple one in his pocket (Poison Swap-Spell Card), "It lets me switch a "Toxic" monster on the field with one with a lower level in my hand. I choose to swap Toxic Spider for Toxic Wasp!" The spider dissolved into a green ooze and re-formed as a giant, blue and green wasp with a purple stinger (Toxic Wasp-Insect-L3-Wind-ATK: 1200, DEF: 400), "Now, Venom Wasp, attack Highspeed Dragonfly! Toxic Sting!" The wasp hissed as it took flight. The dragonfly flew to escape its predator, but alas, was cornered by the hissing menace. The wasp took aim and impaled the dragonfly, causing it to burst into pixels. "Now, Poisonous Flytrap, direct attack!" The plant charged at the boy with its mouth wide open, when it was knocked out of the way by...Highspeed Dragonfly! The plant bursted into pixels.

"What?" Terry gasped, "I destroyed that bug three seconds ago!"

"I activated my trap card, Rise of the Fallen Soldier," the boy said calmly, one of the face down cards flipped face up to show a picture of a beaten warrior standing to defend a woman behind him, "This card activates when you declare a direct attack. It allows me to summon a monster you destroyed this turn in attack mode. You fell for my trap!"

Suddenly, Highspeed Dragonfly collapsed to the ground, slightly purple where it tackled Poisonous Flytrap and was breathing heavily. Its ATK and DEF both dropped by 500 points (ATK: 300, DEF: 200). "What happened?" the boy said, shocked.

"Yehehehe," Terry laughed, "When Poisonous Flytrap is destroyed in battle, the attacking monster loses 500 attack and defense points. Who's in whose trap now? I place one card face down and end my turn."

-Red haired boy LP:3600-Terry LP: 3800-

"My turn," the boy said, drawing his card, and a smile appeared on his face, "I activate the spell card Song of Summons, which allows me to summon two level 3 or lower monsters from my hand or deck. I choose Fire Wasp and Electric Mage," and he summoned a red and orange wasp (Fire Wasp-Insect-L3-Fire-ATK:1100, DEF: 600) and a sorcerer in purple robes with electricity surrounding him (Electric Mage-Spellcaster-L3-Light-ATK: 700, DEF: 800), "And I activate the effect of Electric Mage. Once per turn, I can summon 1 "Electric Familiar" token," the electricity surrounding Electric Mage took the form of a small, yellow ghost (Electric Familiar token-Thunder-L2-Light-ATK: 400, DEF: 400).

"You just triggered my quick-play spell, Toxic Token Blitz!" Terry said, as he activated his spell (Toxic Token Blitz-Quick-play spell card), "This activates when you summon a token monster(s). I get to summon Toxic Tokens (Toxic Token-Aqua-L1-Dark-ATK: 200, DEF: 200) equal to the number of tokens you just summoned," and a menacing, purple drop of poison appeared on Terry's field.

"Not gonna help you," the boy smirked, "I activate the trap, Reckless Draw," his remaining face down flipping, reveling a picture of a man pulling 3 cards from his deck, a maniacal grin on his face, "This card lets me draw cards until I have 6 in my hand in exchange for skipping my next draw phase," the boy said, drawing his cards and a wide grin appeared on his face.

"I sacrifice Fire Wasp and Highspeed Dragonfly to summon Sensha, the Living Fortress in attack mode," as the two insects vanished, the ground shook, throwing Terry off balance and causing him to fall on his back, as a giant metal dome, shaped like a turtle shell, fell out of the sky and onto the boy's field. The sides of the dome opened to revel cannons and mechanized arms and legs. And in the front of the dome, in a large, open entrance, were two red eyes that stared at Terry from deep within the shell, "Meet Sensha, the Living Fortress!" the boy called out (Sensha, the Living Fortress-Machine-L8-Earth-ATK: 2700, DEF: 2800).

"Whoa! What the heck is that thing?" Terry exclaimed, picking himself up, "I know which card I'm taking when I win!"

"You just don't listen," the boy chided, "Sensha's ability now activates! By sending one monster on my side of the field to the graveyard, I get to hit you with 700 points of damage! And I choose Electric Familiar!" The ghost flew in to the shell entrance and a door closed behind it. Then the shell shook as the top of the dome opened to revel a cannon, with Electric Familiar in the barrel. The cannon took aim at Terry and fired Electric Familiar, the ghost colliding with Terry's stomach. He was doubled over in pain, the wind knocked out of him.

"I play one card face down and end my turn," the boy concluded. Terry glared as he looked at the turtle shell fortress that just shot him. But when he drew his card, his glare turned into a look of confidence.

"I sacrifice Toxic Token to summon Toxic Snake!" and, once again, the purple drop melted and reformed as the giant, blue snake (Toxic Snake-Reptile-L5-Earth-ATK: 2000, DEF: 1300), "And I activate the ritual spell card, Toxin Offering." He placed the card on the field revealing a picture of a fancy vile of poison sitting upon an alter, "By sending Toxic Snake and Toxic Wasp to the Graveyard, I can summon Toxin God Doku!" The two monsters melted into two puddles of purple ooze. Then, both puddles erupted into the air and swirled into a menacing form. Their new form resembled a man with a snake tail in place of legs. His face was covered by a mask with purple tears running down it and he held a scythe with poison dripping off the end of it (Toxin God Doku-Beast Warrior-L8-Dark-ATK: 3400, DEF: 2000).

"Now his special ability activates," Terry proclaimed, "When he attacks, the defending monster loses 1000 ATK and DEF points. Go, Doku! Toxic Harvest!" Doku raised his scythe high above his head as the poison dripped onto Sensha, melting some of his armor and weapons, and finally brought the blade down.

"You lose," the boy said a smirk appearing on his face, "I activate the Quick play spell card, Twin Trap Trigger, which allows me to use two trap cards in my deck at the cost of 1000 LP. I chose Fumble and Giant's Collapse," the boy announced as his face down disappeared and two trap cards replaced it. One had a picture of a monster charging an energy attack which then exploded on him and the other depicted a giant monster that was torn and beaten falling to the ground, "Fumble destroys one level 7 or higher monster that attacks this turn and Giant's Collapse inflicts you with damage equal to the attack points of a level 7 or higher monster that was just destroyed."

Sure enough, Doku burst into pixels after collapsing onto Terry. His life points took a massive hit from that move, dropping to 400.

"Now it's my turn," the boy said, not drawing a card, due to the effect of Reckless Draw, "I activate Pacifist Summons, which allows me to sacrifice Sensha's attack this turn for one Pacifist token (Pacifist token-Spellcaster-L2-Light-ATK: 0, DEF: 500)," and a man in a white robe appeared next to Sensha, "I activate Sensha's ability, tributing my token to inflict 700 damage points to you. Go, Sensha! Monster Launcher!" The white robe man entered the tunnel and, like last time, was shot out of the cannon atop Sensha at Terry, dropping Terry's LP to 0.

"I lost," Terry said, shocked by his winning streak being broken. He fell to his knees in shock, and the little girl he had beaten before walked over to him and kicked him in the shin. "Ow!" he yelled as anyone around turned to laugh at this. He picked himself up and shook off the pain.

"Fine, take your cards back, their trash anyways." He tossed Nathan's card and the boy's card back to them and left, grumbling about his loss.

"Here," the boy said, handing Emerald Knight to Nathan. Nathan's eyes were tear filled at the sight of his most treasured card.

"Thank you," Nathan said, wiping away the tears, "By the way, I never caught your name. What is it?"

"My name? It's Tai Kapsal, and I'm gonna win the Kaiba Cup!" Tai then raced off in search of more challenges.

Lurking in the shadows, the group that had followed him were discussing their plans.

"So that's 'Solar' Tai Kapsal of New Steel Town."

"He's certainly an interest'n lad," one said with a Scottish accent.

"And his cards were intriguing as well," another said, "We should follow him and continue to observe." All the group members nodded in response and took off after him.

Wow! my fingers are tired! Why do duels have to take so long? See you next time, after I get some ice for my fingers. Send Reviews! Ouch! Poor fingers!


	3. Welcome to Kaibaland

Welcome back! Chapter 3 is ready to go! P.S. the duel format might be a bit different. Well, let's roll!

Chapter 3: Welcome to Kaibaland!

Tai had stayed at a nice hotel for the night and re-organized his deck. He just walked up to a gate shaped like "Castle Gate," the new entrance to Kaibaland, when he noticed he was being followed. He spun around to face...Nathan!

"Nathan, why are you here?" Tai asked, scratching his head.

"Well, I wanted to cheer you on in the tournament," Nathan said sheepishly, "Plus, I've always wanted to go to Kaibaland."

"Alright, but you might be challenged to duels by competitors, getting in practice for their matches. Is your deck ready?"

"You bet!" Nathan said eagerly, holding up his duel disk, "I reinvented my deck last night, after I lost to that poison duelist. My older sister helped me rebuild it, and she even lent me some new cards!"

"You have an older sister?" Tai asked puzzled.

"Yeah! She's the best duelist I've ever seen! Oh, uh, except for you, Tai," Nathan said, red with embarrassment, "In fact, she said she was going to join us here in case we need some help."

Tai just grinned, wondering who Nathan's sister was, and what cards she used. Returning to Earth, he and Nathan walked up to the ticket salesman to enter the park.

"Sorry kids," he said, "Kaibaland is closed to the public today. There's a big tournament today, and only special duelists are allowed."

"What?" Nathan said, despaired, "But Tai said he was going to win th-" Tai stepped ahead of him to speak with the ticket man. Tai fished through his pockets and pulled out a small keycard. It had the Kaiba Corp symbol, a picture of Blue Eyes White Dragon, a number, and other information.

"My name is Tai Kapsal, and I am an official participant in the tournament."

The man took the keycard and examined it carefully, then swiped it through a small devise next to the ticket distributer. After a few seconds, the devise let out a harmonious beep.

"Ah, yes," the ticket vendor said grinning, "You are an official participant, Mr. Kapsal. Sorry about that, it's just all the other participants I've seen today were older than you three, so I didn't expect someone so young. He and she are a part of your group, correct?"

Tai and Nathan turned around to face a girl of about 18, with long, hazel-colored hair, a light blue tank top, magenta skirt, and a duel disk.

"Wendy!" Nathan said running up to her and hugging her, "You came just in time!"

"Nathan," the girl, Wendy, said, "Good to see you made it here on your own. You didn't run into any bullies like yesterday, right?"

"I'm fine," Nathan whined, "Wendy, this is Tai. He got my card back for me."

"Well," Wendy said turning to Tai, "Thanks for helping my little bro out." She gave him a wink, making Tai blush redder than his hair.

"Ah, well, it was just practice for today, really," Tai said blushing, "Wait, little bro? Does that mean...?"

"Yep!" Nathan said, "Wendy is my older sister! She helped me build this deck."

"Ahem," the vendor said, redirecting their attention, "As I was saying, are those two with you, sir?"

"Yes," Tai replied, "They are a part of my group."

"Very well, then," he said, "Then please wear these guest passes," and he held out two wristbands to Nathan and Wendy, "They grant you access to the park, since only tournament entrees and their guests are allowed inside."

"Thanks," they both said, fixing their wristbands on.

"Well, good luck!" he said, opening the gates.

"Let's go!" Tai shouted as the three raced through the gate.

Ten seconds later, the group that tailed Tai in the park walked up to the vendor.

"Passes, please," he said. Each one presented their pass, and each was verified.

"Good luck!" the vendor said reopening the gate. The group of six walked through the gate and followed after Tai.

"Your sure he's group material?" one asked the leader of the pack.

"He's perfect," she replied, "With him, victory for our team is assured."

Thank you for your support and comments. See you next story!


	4. Fairies vs Fiends

I'm back! And so is the story! Read on!

Chapter 4: "The Gang and the Queen of Fairies"

The park was amazing! Duel Monster themed rides were everywhere, the employees were in Duel Monster costumes, and the cotton-candy was shaped like Kuriboh. Tai had just purchased one while Nathan and Wendy were busy trading cards with other duelists.

"Hey," one duelist said to Tai, "Are the girl and the kid part of your gang?"

"My gang?" Tai asked confused.

"Don't you know? In this tournament, your allowed to fight more than one duelist at once. So to protect themselves from being outnumbered, a group of duelists band together as a gang. That way, if your challenged by another group, you have a better chance at winning," the duelist explained, "Say, if you guys aren't in a gang, maybe you should join my boss's, The Storm Hunters."

"Thanks but no thanks," Tai replied, shaking his head, "I think we'll stay by ourselves for a while, but maybe after some thought."

"Sounds fair," the duelist said walking off, "But the invitation still stands, in case you find things too tough on your own."

Wendy and Nathan walked over and asked Tai who that was. Tai re-explained the whole gang system to them.

"Hey!" Nathan exclaimed, "We should start a gang!"

"It would prepare us in case of ambushes," Tai pondered, "Alright, let's do it!"

"Heeheehee!" someone cackled behind Wendy. Everyone turned to face the eavesdropper. He had bright red hair with his bangs styled like horns. His skin was so pale, when you looked at him, you would think he was a standing corpse. He wore a red suit over a black and white striped shirt. At the end of his sleeves and pant legs were purple flames. He wore a traditional Duel Disk on his left arm.

"Well, well, well," he sneered, "If it isn't the boy who defeated my little brother and ended his dueling career!"

"Tai, do you know him?" Nathan asked.

"Hmmm," Tai thought as he stared at the character, "Oh yeah, now I remember. Your brother was Gordon Blud. I beat him at my last tournament in the semi-finals."

-Flashback-

-New Steel Town Stadium

Gordon: "I draw! Golden Gryphon, attack!"

A giant gryphon with gold feathers pounced upon a boy in flaming armor.

Tai: "Not so fast! I activate the trap card on my field. Dimensional Shift!"

His face-down card flips up, revealing a picture of a man leaping through a portal and another man coming out one right next to it.

Tai: "I switch Solar Kid with my removed-from-play Solar Archfiend!"

The kid disappears and a fiend engulfed in flames appears in his place.

Tai: "His ability activates! Since your gryphon isn't a Light monster, his attack is cut in half!"

Solar Archfiend shoots purple flames from it's mouth that cover Golden Gryphon. Then Solar Archfiend shoots orange flames at the attacking monster, destroying it and making Gordon's LP reach 0.

Gordon: "Noooo!"

Announcer: "Tai wins! He moves on to face the former New Steel Town champion in the finals!"

-End Flashback-

"Ah, memories," Tai said coming out of his trance, "So then you must be his older brother, Trace Blud."

"Correct, Tai," Trace said, "I too was invited to this competition, and I will avenge Gordon! After his loss, he never won a match again. Once you lose, his honor will be restored and we will rise to the top of the tag-team dueling circuit!"

"Ah, you and your brother are exactly the same," Tai said annoyed, "Best duelist this, best duelist that, when all you both do is just power through your duels." He looked over at Wendy, an idea forming in his head, "I don't even need to fight you, Blud, because Wendy here can beat you herself!"

"Huh?" Nathan, Wendy, and Trace all said in astonishment, "Wendy, Nathan said that you were the best duelist he knows," Tai said, "I want to see what kind of strategy and cards you use, and what better way than dueling? Besides, if your as good as Nathan says, this should be a cake walk."

"Well," Wendy said blushing, "I'm not as strong as Yugi Moto, but I do know a bit about playing the game. Alright, I'll go against him."

Trace was shaking with anger. "**Who do you think you are**?" he shouted at Tai, "**Sending some upstart to fight your battles for you, while you sit back to catch a few rays! How Gordon lost to some lazy, talentless fraud like you, I will never know**!"

"Don't worry," Tai said blandly, "I'll be coaching the two of you the entire time. Sound fair?"

"**Coaching**?" Trace roared, "Fine, I'll fight her, but on one condition. If, or should I say **when**, I beat her, you have to duel me, Tai!"

"Fine," Tai said with an annoyed look on his face, "But if Wendy wins, you have to give up this stupid Blud family _vendetta _of yours against me. Deal?"

"Deal," Trace said, shaking Tai's hand to seal the pact, "Duel start!"

-Duel Start-

-Wendy: LP 4000-Trace: LP 4000-

Wendy: (draws card) "I go first. I summon Fairy Knight in attack mode!"

A knight in brass armor with butterfly wings appears. [Fairy Knight-Atk: 1650-Def: 1500-Fairy-WIND-Lv4]

Wendy: "I also play two cards face down. End turn."

Trace: "Nice move, but mine's better. (draws card) I summon Fiend Gambler in defense mode."

A goblin in a suit and derby hat appears. [Fiend Gambler-Atk: 1200-Def: 1800-Fiend-DARK-Lv4]

Trace: "His special ability now activates. Once per turn, I can roll a die. If the result is 4,5,or 6, I can summon a level 3 or lower monster from my deck in attack mode. If it's 1,2,or 3, you can. Roll!"

Fiend Gambler pulls a die out of his pocket and tosses it in the air. The result is...5!

Trace: "Alright! I choose Fiend Tailor!"

A goblin in a suit and apron with sewing needles appears. [Fiend Tailor-Atk: 650-Def: 1000-Fiend-DARK-Lv2]

Trace: "His ability activates, as well. He can raise another fiend's attack power by 300 once per turn! I choose Fiend Gambler!"

Fiend Tailor trims and sews up Gambler's suit. When finished, Gambler surges with energy as his attack raises to 1500.

Trace: "I also activate Fiend Revolver! When a fiend type monster with 1500 Atk or more is equipped with this card, once per turn, he can give up his attack to destroy one monster on the field. I give it to Fiend Gambler! Now shoot down her fairy!"

A demonic pistol appears in Gambler's hand. His energy shifts to the gun barrel and he takes aim at Fairy Knight. He fires a round at Fairy Knight, causing him to burst into pixels on contact.

Trace: "Now Fiend Tailor attacks!"

Tailor leaps into the air and tosses a sewing needle at Wendy, merely grazing her cheek.

-Wendy: 3350-Trace: 4000-

Tai: "Not a bad move. But that gambler's power is a big risk to you, Blud."

Wendy: "My turn (draws card). (smirk) I summon Horsefly with his ability in attack mode."

A horse with fly wings buzzed around the field. [Horsefly-Atk: 800-Def: 1300-Winged Beast-WIND-Lv3]

Nathan: "Wait, why Horsefly? It's not strong enough to beat Fiend Gambler."

Tai merely stood there smirking.

Tai: "So that's her plan, eh? Not bad, but she still needs to summon another fairy. Looks like she'll rely on Gambler's ability to complete her combo."

Wendy: "Now I summon Fairy Guard in defense mode."

A Fairy with a large, gold shield and armor appeared. [Fairy Guard-Atk: 0-Def: 2000-

Fairy-LIGHT-Lv4]

Wendy: "His power is that he can't be destroyed by a non-fairy card's effect. Horsefly, attack Tailor!"

Horsefly charged at the fiend and did away with it in two seconds.

-Wendy: 3350-Trace: 3850-

Wendy: "I play one more card face down and end my turn."

One last card hologram appeared face down.

Trace: "My move! (draw) I activate Gambler's ability once again! Dice Roll!"

Gambler tosses his die in the air and it lands on...2!

Trace: "No way?"

Wendy: "Yes! I summon Fairy Arsenalist in attack mode!"

A fairy in silver armor with a pack full of weapons appears. [Fairy Arsenalist-Atk: 1400-Def: 1400-Fairy-EARTH-Lv3]

Wendy: "His ability activates! When he's special summoned, I can equip one fairy with an equip spell card from my deck. I equip Fairy Guard with Bull's Eye Shield!"

A shield shaped like a dart board materializes in front of Fairy Guard's regular shield.

"While Fairy Guard is equipped with Bull's Eye Shield, he becomes the only monster you can attack."

Trace: "Grrrrr. Fine, I summon Fiend Seer in attack mode."

A purple goblin covered in eyes appears. [Fiend Seer- Atk: 300- Def: 300- Fiend-DARK-Lv1]

Trace: "I activate his power. By tributing him, I can look at the top 3 cards of my deck and add one to my hand. The rest go back to the deck and my deck is shuffled."

Fiend Seer glows yellow before bursting into pixels. Trace looks at the top 3 cards and smirks. He adds one card to his hand before returning the others and shuffling the deck.

Trace: "I activate the card I chose: Warlord's Blood Curse!"

He plays the card and a card hologram with a picture of an ancient samurai warlord holding a blood soaked blade materialized. [Warlord's Blood Curse- Continuous Spell Card]

Tai: "Crud! Wendy's in trouble now!"

Nathan: "Why? What does that card do?"

Tai: "Every turn, if Wendy doesn't attack, she loses 700 life points."

Nathan: "Oh no! Wendy's monsters aren't strong enough to take on Gambler in a battle!"

Tai: "There is a catch, though. If Trace doesn't attack each turn, then Warlord's Blood Curse is destroyed. But his deck is filled with cards to power up his already-high-powered monsters. Once he activates that card, high defense and low attack don't work on him."

Trace: "Tai is right, girl. My deck is filled with powered up cards. Once I raise Gambler's power high enough, your team is doomed! Now, I activate Pot of Greed to draw 2 more cards. (draws two cards then laughs) Perfect! Say good bye to Fairy Guard, girlie! I activate Power Cipher!"

He plays his card and a hologram with a picture of Dark Ruler draining a goblin of his energy materializes. [Power Cipher-Spell Card] An aura of red energy surrounds Fiend Gambler.

Tai: "Just perfect. With that card, for one turn, Fiend Gambler gains attack points equal to one monster on Wendy's field. Another risky move, though."

Trace: "Exactly! I chose Horsefly! Now I switch my Gambler to attack mode and attack Fairy Guard!"

Gambler takes out a small shotgun from his pocket at fires at Fairy Guard. The bullets break through his shield and he bursts into pixels.

Wendy: "Now I activate Rope of Life! It brings back Fairy Guard with 700 more attack points."

One of her face downs flips to show Rope of Life. A hole appears under the card, a rope falls from the card into the hole, and Fairy Guard climbs out of the hole on the rope and retakes his former spot.

Tai: "Not bad. Now she can complete her combo. And after using Power Cipher, Trace takes damage equal to Fiend Gambler's original attack points."

The red energy burst from Fiend Gambler and collided with Trace.

Trace: "Arrrg!"

-Wendy: 3350-Trace: 2650-

Trace: "Grrr, I place two cards face down and end my turn."

Wendy: "(draws) I complete my combo! I tribute Fairy Arsenalist and Horsefly to summon Fairy Queen in attack mode!"

Arsenalist and Horsefly disappear and a tall, blue, dragon-faced fairy in lovely robes and a golden crown rises in their place. [Fairy Queen-Atk: 2600-Def: 1500-Fairy-LIGHT-Lv7]

Wendy: "I also play the field spell Fairy Kingdom!"

A dense forest surrounds the field and behind Wendy is a ten-foot tall castle. [Fairy Kingdom-Field Spell Card]

Wendy: "I activate Fairy Queen's special ability. By tributing a fairy monster like Fairy Guard, my queen gains ATK equal to the tribute's ATK until the end of the turn."

Fairy Guard glows yellow before turning into a small ball of light with wings. The orb then flies into the palm of Fairy Queen before disappearing. [Fairy Queen-Atk: 3300]

Wendy: "Now, Fairy Queen, attack! Rainbow Magic Shock-Wave!"

Fairy Queen opens her dragon-like mouth as an rainbow-colored orb formed. She then shot a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning at Fiend Gambler.

Trace: "(smirk) I activate my trap card, Jester Evasion Trick!"

His face down flips to show a picture of a clown holding another panicking clown in front of a roaring lion to protect himself. [Jester Evasion Trick-Trap Card] Gambler disappears and a new fiend takes its place. This replacement is a giant, purple arm with a green eye in the center of its palm. It has stitches and giant nails lodged in it. [Dark Curse Arm-ATK: 2900- DEF: 100-Fiend-DARK-Lv8] It absorbs the attack and bursts into pixels.

-Wendy: 3350-Trace: 2250-

Wendy: "W-what just happen?"

Tai: "His trap activates when your monster attacks his monster. It allows him to send his Gambler back to his hand for one turn and, in exchange, summon one monster from his hand with the same type. Of course, the substitute is destroyed at the end of the turn and the escapee is summoned back like nothing happened. Luckily, that move costed him Fiend Revolver, but I have a good idea why it was worth it."

Trace: "As always, your duelist instincts are right on. Now, Wendy, your turn is over, so Fiend Gambler is re-summoned without Fiend Revolver."

Fiend Gambler returned to the field.

Trace: "My turn. (draw) (evil grin) I activate Gambler's special ability. Dice roll!"

Gambler tosses his die in the air and the result is...2!

Wendy: "Yes! I-"

Trace: "Not so fast! I activate Reverse Roll!"

Gambler's die evaporated and a black die took its place. [Reverse Roll-Counter Trap Card] The black die's result was...5?

Wendy: "What?"

Tai: "Oh no! Reverse Roll activates after a dice roll is activated. The result is changed to the number on the dice parallel to the original result; 6 to 1, 2 to 5, 3 to 4, and vice-versa! If he held onto that card until now, it must be for something huge!"

Trace: "Don't you get tired of explaining strategies all the time, Tai?"

Tai: "Eh, only when they become obvious enough for explaining to not be necessary."

Trace: "Well, back to your inevitable defeat, Wendy. I activate Gambler's ability. Since the result was five, I summon Fiend Stalker."

A goblin wearing a trench coat, sunglasses, a hat, and bandages over his face appeared. [Fiend Stalker-ATK: 1300-DEF: 1000-Fiend-DARK-Lv3]

Trace: "I activate his power. When Stalker is summoned, I can look at your hand and take one card to use as my own. Go, Dark Search!"

Stalker disappears, then reappears behind Wendy stealing her hand.

Wendy: "Hey! Give those cards back!"

Stalker, mechanically ignoring her, returns to Trace and presents the cards to him.

Trace: "Hmmm, (staring at cards, then picks one) I choose Fairy Meteor Crush."

After giving said card to Trace, Stalker returns the cards to Wendy.

Trace: "Now, the moment of truth! I sacrifice Fiend Stalker and Fiend Gambler to summon Fiend Don in attack mode!"

The two disappear as a large, fat goblin with a Godfather-style suit and Godfather-style hair, who was smoking a cigar. [Fiend Don-ATK: 2500-DEF: 1700-Fiend-DARK-Lv8]

Tai: "(sweat-drops) This is really bad."

Nathan: "W-why Tai? Fairy Queen has more attack points than Fiend Don. Sis is doing great, right?"

Tai: "Not if Trace has 'that' card in his hand with Fairy Meteor Crush."

Trace: "(grins evilly at Tai) I do. (A cold shiver runs down Tai's spine) And now I activate 'that' card. Go...Fierce Aura!"

A picture of a lion roaring and other animals bowing down to it materializes. [Fierce Aura-Spell card]

Nathan: "Fierce Aura? Tai, what does it do?"

Tai: "The owner selects his highest level monster on their side of the field, mainly Don, and all lower level monsters on the field are switched to defense mode. Now combine this with the fact that he has Fairy Meteor Crush in his hand, which causes a destroyed defense monster to take battle damage."

Nathan and Wendy were both worried; they both knew what that meant.

Fiend Don shot a fierce glance at Fairy Queen, causing her to cringe and guard herself. [Fairy Queen-DEF: 1500]

Trace: "I equip Don with Fairy Meteor Crush. Now, Don, destroy her fairy! Devil's Right!"

Fiend Don pulls his right fist back, then punches Fairy Queen with it. She bursts into pixels.

-Wendy: 2350-Trace:2250-

Wendy: "Grk! I activate my face down! Mystic Revival! It lets me summon a monster in my graveyard with a lower level than my destroyed monster. Go, Fairy Arsenalist!"

Her card flips to show a picture of a angel in front of blinding light. [Mystic Revival-Trap card] Fairy Arsenalist reappears.

Wendy: "His effect activates. I equip him with Serving Shield."

A blocky shield with eyes appears before Arsenalist. [Serving Shield-Equip Spell card]

Wendy: "I activate its effect! For 500 LP, I can turn it into a monster!"

Serving Shield breaks apart and reforms as a block with feet. [Serving Shield (Monster Mode)-ATK: 0-DEF: 0-Rock-EARTH-Lv1]

-Wendy LP: 1850-

Tai: "Maybe she can win this yet."

Wendy: "My turn. (draw) I activate Fairy Kingdom's special ability! Since it was played, it's gained one 'fairy counter' for each fairy summoned. I can pay these counters in place of monsters for tribute summons at 2 a sacrifice. I tribute two fairy counters to summon Fairy King!"

Two small fairies flew out of the castle and glowed as Wendy played her card. In their place was an old, bearded man with a brass crown, jeweled walking stick, and fairy wings. [Fairy King-ATK: 1500-DEF: 1500-Fairy-LIGHT-Lv6]

Trace: "What? You summoned that old geezer? Don will send him to the retirement home in one turn!"

Tai and Nathan: "Heh heh heh! Guess you don't know what the king does. It lets her summon Fairy Queen back from the grave or hand at the cost of one monster."

Wendy: "They're right. King sends Serving Shield to the graveyard in place of Fairy Queen."

Serving Shield vanishes and Fairy Queen retakes her spot.

Wendy: "I use her power to gain Arsenalist's attack points. Now, attack with Rainbow Magic Shock-Wave!"

Queen absorbs Arsenalist and her power becomes 4000. She launches her rainbow lightning bolt and fries Fiend Don.

-Wendy: 1850-Trace: 750-

Wendy: "Now, Fairy King, finish him off! Forest's Judgement!"

King raises his stick in the air and green lightning hits Trace.

Trace: "Uwaaaaah!"

-Wendy: 1850-Trace: 0-

-Wendy wins-Duel End-

Wendy cheered for her win against a pro duelist, while Trace cursed his loss. Tai walked over and placed his hand on Trace's shoulder.

"Trace," Tai said, "You played a good game. You and your brother play well, but your tactics have a major weakness. Because you focus on over powering your opponent and forcing them to fight, you leave yourself open to abilities that destroy your monsters outside of battle. And because your deck is filled with powerhouse monsters and power raising cards, there isn't room for countering these moves. I told your brother the same thing, but he didn't heed my words, so he wasn't prepared for the pro leagues. That is why he never won afterwords. Don't repeat his error, Trace."

"Very well," Trace said calmly for the first time, "How can I argue after seeing the truth myself? Anyways, a deal's a deal. The Blud family revenge is no more." He shook Tai's hand and got up. "Good luck with the rest of the tournament, 'Solar' Tai," and he walked off. Tai was pleased that one less person was stalking him now.

"Hey, Tai," Nathan said suspiciously, "What did he mean by 'Solar' Tai?"

"And what did you mean about 'pro leagues'?" Wendy also asked. Tai sweat dropped.

"Oh, that's just my duelist alias, like 'Bobby the Kid' or 'Gold-arm Walter' or something," Tai said nervously, "And the 'pro leagues', well..." Nathan and Wendy paled a bit.

"W-wait," Wendy said, "Don't tell me...Y-your a pro duelist?"

"Well, yeah," Tai said, "Didn't I tell you before?"

-End- And that's the story so far. See yas!


	5. Legends of Old and New

Welcome back, loyal fans. Today, a bolt of lightning struck me and gave me a genius idea. In this chapter, not only will we find out who that group of followers are (maybe), but I will add a few dueling legends, like Pegasus, Keith, and Joey, into the mix. BTW I'll use their japanese manga names, like Katsuya Jonouchi, but Yugi isn't joining, sorry. He was king once, already. But Kaiba is definitely coming back as a major character. Well, on with the show! *Lightning Strikes* BTTTZZZZZ! Ah! And just like that I have the next chapter already! Well enjoy this one in the mean time!

_Chapter 5: "Revival of the Legends-Let the Tournament Start!_

"So you're really a pro duelist in New Steel Town, USA?" Nathan asked. He and Wendy were shocked to hear that Tai was an expert duelist.

"Yep," Tai responded proudly, "New Steel Town is a major delta-hub for duel monster experts from America. They say that even the legendary 'Bandit' Keith Howards used to live there."

"Wow, even Bandit Keith," Wendy and Nathan said in awe.

"So," Nathan said, "Were the cards you used on Terry your legendary deck?"

"Nope!" Tai responded proudly, surprising Nathan. Tai dug through his pockets and pulled out two deck cases; one was a light shade of blue, while the other was scarlet-red with a orange sun-like symbol on the front.

"This deck is my 'sub-deck'," he said, holding up the light blue container, "I use this one against amateurs and starting players. I used this deck against Terry."

"Eh?" Nathan gasped, "You weren't even fighting him at full strength?"

"So then the red deck must be for professional tournaments and experts," Wendy said, receiving a nod from Tai, "Then what kind of cards do you really use when your serious?" Wendy and Nathan leaned in close to hear.

"Well..." Tai started, before a bell interrupted him.

"Attention, duelists," a voice over the intercom said, "The starting of the tournament will begin soon. Please report to Blue-Eyes White Castle for further instructions."

"Ah, seems the tournament is starting," Tai said eagerly, "Maybe you can see my deck in action, instead."

They raced towards Blue-Eyes White Castle, a giant, light-blue palace in the center of the park. The castle walls were lined with Blue-Eyes White Dragon gargoyles, and at the top of the castle, between the four towers, was a duel arena, the site of the final duel of the tournament. Standing there was a tall man with brown, bowl-cut hair and piercing, blue eyes. He wore a white, sleeve-less coat over a long-sleeve black shirt and pants. On his arm was a duel disk with the KC logo and in his hand was his deck.

"Today starts the search for the next King of Games," he said to one of his guards, "The start of the Kaiba Cup Duel Monsters Tournament! Hundreds of duelists have joined this competition, some banding together, others fighting alone. Truly the greatest competition since Battle City! And the perfect place to unveil my newest card."

"Sir, it is time to announce the rules. Please head toward the central platform."

"Very well," he said, reloading his duel disk with his deck. They walked into the elevator and rode down to the arena.

Meanwhile, as Tai, Wendy, and Nathan were rushing to the arena, the silent group of followers was close behind. Suddenly, someone stepped in front of them and they crashed.

"What was that for?" Nathan shouted at the tall man with an American flag bandana and sunglasses that he crashed into.

"Shut it, brat!" the bandana man yelled, "You're talking to Keith Howards, the next Duel Monsters King! You ran into me, so show your respect and give me your deck!" Keith snatched Nathan's cards right out of his duel disk and started to walk off, when his shoulder was grabbed by Tai.

"Hey, don't you think it's kind of pathetic when an adult is robbing a kid of their cards?" Tai said more mockingly than darkly.

"What the $^& did you say, #$*&^$ brat?" Keith growled as he turned around to glare at Tai.

"Heh, heh! He hit the nail on the head with that remark, Keith," a man with blonde hair and a blue jacket said as he walked towards the group, "Nice to see this generation of duelists has some backbone."

"Well, well, 'Joey,'" Keith said, ignoring Tai and turning his attention to this new character, "Looks like this tournament is about to get a little more interesting," and with that he placed a deck, not Nathan's, but his own, into the duel disk on his arm.

"As much as I'd like to send you flying to the other side of the park, we all have to get to Blue Eyes White Castle for Kaiba's speech," but before he started walking away, he took Nathan's cards back from Keith and handed them back to Nathan, "And the kid was right, it is kind of pathetic for a grown man to steal from children."

Keith started walking as well, but shot a quick glare back at Tai as he headed towards the castle.

"Anyway, good line, kid," he said, addressing Tai, "Couldn't have said it better myself. Let's head to the Castle."

"Sure," Tai said as Wendy and Nathan walked after, "By the way, I don't think we caught your name."

"Oh yeah, the name's Katsuya Jonouchi, the next King of Games!"

"You'll have to change that intro of yours," Tai said, "cause I'm the next king!" And with this, Jonouchi smirked and all four headed towards the castle.

The group had seen the whole exchange, and some were quite shocked. Legends, old and new, meeting up like that. Truly Tai would be quite the welcome addition.

See you all soon!


End file.
